We Will Rise
by queerwonderland
Summary: Kara and Nia have a lot in common. Something neither of them had really experienced before. Hurt/Comfort post 4x12 oneshot


I wrote this because I really need more scenes with Kara and Nia.

Btw, someone really should add Nia to the list of characters.

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Kara took a few deep breaths to calm herself before knocking on the door. She didn't know why she was so nervous. Part of her believed it was because she saw so much of herself in the younger woman, which led her to assume she could be feeling just as lonely and alienated as Kara once had, and sometimes still does. She finally knocked, softly and briefly, her clenched fist shaking ever so slightly.

Nia was so quick to open the door that Kara couldn't help wonder if she had seen her arrive in a dream. She smiled at the thought before looking at the woman in front of her. Her smiled faltered, seeing Nia's flushed cheeks and red-rimmed eyes.

"Hey, Nia," she said, trying to act as cheerful and carefree as possible.

"Hi," Nia replied, clearing her throat. She smiled, but the smile failed to reach her eyes.

"Can I come in?" Kara asked, peering into the apartment to see if she was alone. "I brought donuts!" she then added, lifting up the paper bag she was holding.

"Sure," Nia chuckled, sniffling slightly as she moved aside, letting Kara into her home. "Do you want anything to drink? Tea?" she asked as she led Kara to the couch.

"Tea would be nice, thank you," Kara smiled, watching Nia nod and walk to the kitchen area to switch on the kettle. She was nervous too, Kara realized, eyeing her closely when she was sure her friend wouldn't notice. Why? They had nothing to hide from each other. Both of them could benefit from talking, sharing, being together.

"So, how do you feel after your first appearance as Dreamer?" Kara asked as Nia handed her a cup of chamomile tea and sat down next to her.

"It felt good. I was a little scared, though," Nia said truthfully.

Kara remembered the day she became Supergirl as if it were yesterday, still feeling the cold water on her face and the excitement of new beginnings whenever she thought about it. At the same time, that day felt like a lifetime ago. So much had happened since Winn made her the suit and Alex taught her how to fight. So much had happened. During those times when everything was new and fresh, she had felt exactly the same as Nia was describing.

"Brainy said he would train me," Nia suddenly added, laughing. Kara laughed too, picturing how that conversation must have gone.

"How are you, anyway?" Kara asked, suddenly. She wasn't even planning to, not yet, it just came out.

Nia stayed silent for a while, mulling over all the possible answers she could give her friend. Finally, she settled for a simple yet descriptive one, one that she could say without falling apart.

"Alone," she said, looking down, knowing that if she looked into those wise blue eyes she'd fall apart. Although Kara was expecting an answer like that, it didn't make hearing her say it any less heartbreaking.

Kara didn't want to keep her distance. She wanted to wrap her arms around the girl, hold her tight, tell her all the things she needed to hear. She wanted to let her cry and cry with her. But she couldn't. Not yet. She had to give Nia space to process everything, space to come to terms with all the change. She also had to be strong, no matter how hard it was for her.

"I know, Nia. I understand how you feel, but only you truly know what it's like," Kara whispered, noting that the younger woman was avoiding her gaze. "But, and this is very important," Kara straightened up, the tone of her voice becoming more serious, causing Nia to finally look up. "You," Kara said, very firmly, looking straight into her friend's eyes, "are definitely not alone." And that was enough for the walls Nia had built to crumble. She choked as tears fell from her eyes, wrapping her arms around her body, desperately looking for a source of comfort.

"Can I hug you?" Kara asked, again somewhat unintentionally, or rather sooner than she had planned to. But Nia, not trusting herself to speak, nodded. Kara moved closer and wrapped her arms around her. Nia, overwhelmed by the sudden warmth, warmth she hadn't felt since her mother had hugged he last, soon started sobbing softly.

"I miss my m-mom," Nia said after a while, her sobs subsiding. Kara's heart broke all over again. _I miss my mom too, kid_, she thought to herself.

She didn't plan on doing it. Not just today, but ever. Yet she did. Rocking Nia back and forth, Kara started singing quietly. It took Nia a few minutes to realize that what she was hearing was a language she'd never heard before. She listened to the melody intensely, letting it calm her, until it stopped. Nia was so mesmerized by the beautiful song she had lost track of time and had no idea how long she had been in Kara's arms. She slowly pulled away, looking at her friend, noticing something different about her usually cheery blue eyes. They reflected a deep sadness that made Nia see her friend in a different light.

"That was beautiful," Nia said, her voice horse with tears. Kara smiled sadly, nodding her head in agreement.

"It's a Kryptonian lullaby. My mother used to sing it to me all the time when I was little," Kara said. "I'd like to think my pod was programmed to play it during my long journey to Earth, so I wouldn't feel so alone," she added, her eyes widening in surprise at how much she was sharing with her friend.

"Can I ask you something personal?" Nia asked, tentatively. She had stopped crying, but tears still glazed her cheeks and soft hiccups punctured her words as she spoke.

"Sure," Kara said, looking up and smiling.

"What happened to Krypton?" she asked, weighing her words carefully, being painfully aware she was entering dangerous territory. "My mother once told me about a dream she had of the planet exploding."

Kara swallowed thickly. She wasn't expecting such a question.

"Yeah," she replied, not really knowing what else to say.

"What happened?" Nia asked, curiosity etched in her voice. It was an innocent question, but one that possessed great pain. Normally, she probably wouldn't ask. At least, not like that. Not as straightforward. But she had a feeling that this time, with Kara, it was okay.

"Nothing, that was it," Kara whispered, looking down at her feet. She didn't like talking about it, but with Nia, it felt different. "My mother put me in a pod. I flew away. Krypton erupting in flames was the last thing I saw." She held her breath, trying her best to stifle a sob, not wanting to cry in front of the girl who was dealing with a major loss herself. "Unwillingly, I survived," she added, her voice weaker.

"Kara, you can't blame yourself for surviving," Nia replied immediately, placing her hand on the alien's shoulder in attempt to comfort her.

"I know that," Kara said, finally looking up, her eyes glossed over with unshed tears, "it's just that I don't tell myself enough. I forget sometimes." She could remember every single nightmare, every single vision of her planet dying. She could see all the people of Krypton, the ones she knew personally, and the ones she only smiled at when she saw them, dying an excruciating death. She blinked a few times, wishing the tears away, not wanting to startle the woman beside her.

"Kara?" Nia said, after a moment of silence, looking at her friend who was staring into the wooden floor.

"Yeah?" Kara replied, still not looking up.

"What you said, about me not being alone." She paused, waiting for some kind of reaction.

"You're not," Kara confirmed.

"Well, the same goes for you," Nia replied. She had never really had to comfort anybody before, maybe apart from Maeve, and she didn't know if she'd be any good at it, but in that moment, looking at Kara, she knew she could be there for her. It hurt her to think that Kara had lost the one person she had trusted most with her identity, the one person who knew her better than she knew herself, only because of some person at the DEO. Her never-ending suffering seemed not only unfair and absurd, but also completely unnecessary. Nia wanted to tell her this so she looked up, facing the older woman who now had tears streaming down her cheeks. Seeing the girl of steel so hurt on the inside made Nia cry, too.

"It's okay," Kara said, through tears, looking at the younger woman beside her, "we'll be okay." Nia wasn't sure which one of them Kara was trying to reassure with those words, but she nodded anyway, taking her hands in her own.

The two women sat together for the rest of the afternoon, sharing stories, sometimes laughing, sometimes crying, but never losing hope for the future. Because now they had something that neither of them had ever had before. They had someone who truly understood.


End file.
